Men's track coach Charlie Powell has one goal for the Quakers in the winter meets at the beginning of the season: to qualify for championship meets starting with the IC4As. "This is only our third meet," Powell said. "We try to get people to qualify for championship meets, such as the Heptagonals, IC4As and eventually the NCAAs.

As Gaza burned and violence by Hamas and the Israeli Defense Force added to the mounting death toll of the current conflict in the Middle East, Penn students gathered on Locust Walk and College Green yesterday in protest, solidarity or both. They carried signs: "End the Genocide in Gaza"; "Israel We Stand with You"; "Zionism=Racism"; "Free the Palestinians from Hamas.

"Just how valuable is Facebook "friendship?" Such is the question Burger King posed to Facebook users in its latest - but short-lived - advertising stunt. Calling it the "Whopper Sacrifice," the fast-food chain asked Facebook users to "de-friend" 10 people in exchange for a free Whopper.

Women's squash coach Jack Wyant required all his players to participate in intrasquad scrimmages and practices over break as preparation for the team's match against No. 27 Franklin and Marshall last night. Looks like the training sessions paid off big time.

This semester, the Graduate and Professional Students Assembly is setting up a number of events and proposals to improve life for graduate students, GAPSA Chairman and fourth year Ph.D. student Andrew Rennekamp said. Rennekamp listed improving housing conditions for graduate students as a major priority.

Biologists work in biology. Physicists study physics. Meteorologists work in meteorology. Columnists . study columns? One of these is definitely not like the others. The first three study for years to become experts in their respective fields. There is a measured science behind their successes.

In a previous basketball life, the scene might have made sense. With Penn down almost 30 late in the second half against a Big 5 rival, Fran Dunphy, red in the face, smacks the scorer's table after one of his players is whistled for traveling. The crowd is so dead that it's impossible to miss the coach's corresponding obscenity.

The crimes have been counted and the verdict is in: Penn and its surroundings are getting safer. Both violent crime and overall crime decreased in the Penn Patrol Zone in 2008, according to the Division of Public Safety. Particularly striking is the drop in violent crime, which is down 38 percent since 2007.

Today, Bike Share Philadelphia will give students one less reason to go to the gym. The organization is hosting a demonstration station of public-use bicycle models from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in front of the Penn Bookstore. Whether you're a fitness buff, an environmentalist or just sick of sitting in traffic, public-use bicycles offer a viable alternative to driving, according to Russell Meddin of Bike Share Philadelphia.

Basketball has taken Ira Bowman places he never thought he'd be. The Palestra was his first unexpected destination, but after transferring from Providence College he found himself as one of the Ivy League's all-time greats and the 1995-96 Player of the Year.

John Mayer thinks "your body is a wonderland," and the Office of Health Education wants you to tell them why. For "The Body Project," a collaboration between the OHE and Guidance for Understanding Image, Dieting and Eating, students, faculty and staff will be invited to submit video testimonials about body image.

Many people at Penn worked hard to get Barack Obama elected in November - and now they're preparing to see him sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. Students are getting ready for next Tuesday's inauguration by traveling to Washington D.C. or taking time off from classes to watch the ceremony on campus.

Amira Fawcett is an Engineering senior from Houston. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.

There is a such thing as a free lunch today - and burritos are on the menu. From 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Chipotle Mexican Grill will serve its 20-ounce award-winning burritos and a soft drink at no charge to celebrate its grand opening tomorrow. "We understand what's happening in the economy, so we're telling students 'c'mon, lunch is on us,'" said Chipotle spokeswoman Katherine Smith.

Many athletes are unable to overcome the extreme emotional and physical roller coaster that results from a major injury. Everyone has the option of quitting - an easy escape route that appears to the frustrated and discouraged - but Steve Martucci isn't one to take shortcuts.

As the U.S. economy continues to spiral downwards, it's become more and more clear that even our impenetrable "Penn bubble" can't keep out a national recession. In December, President Gutmann issued an update on the university's plans for coping with the financial crisis, assuring that Penn will not be "implementing broad-scale layoffs, hiring freezes or across-the-board budget reductions.

Penn senior Carrie Biemer's career-high 32 points were still not enough to carry the women's basketball team in a 76-63 loss to Rider in Lawrenceville, N.J. on Tuesday. Biemer was 11-for-27 from the field - including 5-for-10 from beyond the arc - but no other Quakers scored in double figures or even attempted more than five shots.